There has been a lot of hype the last few years regarding Self Managed Super Funds. It's almost like the in thing to have one set up, especially if your older and you've got a significant amount of money sitting in super.

Basically unless you're interested in property investing through your super fund (and if you do this and borrow you get pretty crappy returns because of the interest and fees you pay) then maybe you should consider one of the new SMSF Lite Providers. What is SMSF lite you ask? It's a product that has been created by some of the big superannuation companies as an alternative to a SMSF. To be hones, if the only reason your considering a SMSF is to have some control then these products are something you need to seriously consider.

What do you need to know?

Most funds require you to have a minimum balance.

Limits on direct shares - depending on the fund they may limit you to only investing 50 - 80% of your funds into shares you choose and they may restrict you to only 20% of your funds allocated to one particular share. ie: you can't just go and put 100% of your funds and buy CBA shares. Often you will have access to purchase shares in the ASX 200 or ASX 300 group of companies. If you're restricted to 50% of your capital being invested in direct shares then the rest of your funds you can choose to be invested in any of the super funds managed portfolios.

Disclaimer: Your full financial needs and requirements need to be reviewed prior to any tailored advice being provided or Your full financial needs and requirements need to be assessed prior to any offer or acceptance of a loan product